O Master, how did the world repay
Your life of long solicitude?—
The Lords of Tsou have misprized your land,
And your home has been used as the palace of Lu. . . .
You foretold that when phœnixes vanished, your fortunes too would end,
You knew that the captured unicorn would be a sign of the close of your teaching. . . .
Can this sacrifice I watch, here between two temple-pillars,
Be the selfsame omen of death you dreamed of long ago?